Thoughts on BC Politics and More

...  on this particular day one of the possible stops was a lot more sombre: a Canadian War Cemetery outside the Dutch town of Bergen-op-Zoom. I had never been to such a place before; Normandy is on my list of must-visits, but I haven’t made it happen yet. And so, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it look sad and forgotten, all these years later? Would it look like any other cemetery? ... ... we got back on our bikes and rode away, next to vast fields of green as the horses and cows looked on. But the thing about riding a bike for hours is that it gives you a lot of time to think. And what I was thinking about that afternoon, and at times since, is how it is impossible to imagine the West of today coming together in a massive effort, full of selflessness and sacrifice, to defend freedom and democracy. Frankly it’s tough to imagine Western governments coming together to accomplish much of anything ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

Canada Remembers : D-Day and the Battle of Normandy Many Canadian soldiers were young and new to battle, but our infantry and armoured troops would be thrown into action against some of the best of the German forces in Normandy. The Canadians successfully captured their shoreline positions at Juno Beach and penetrated the farthest inland of any of the 155,000 Allied troops who had landed on June 6, 1944, but D-Day was only the beginning of the struggle to liberate France. Clashes in the days that followed badly bloodied our soldiers ... the first month of fighting was an exercise in grim endurance for the Canadians as the combat intensified and capturing Caen remained elusive. The Canadians would bend but not break; however, the memory of the bitter fighting they encountered in villages like Authie, Buron and Carpiquet would haunt our Veterans for years to come. Our navy and air force ... kept the sea lanes clear of enemy shipping and swept German warplanes from the...